Pending Special Elections and In Memoriam

Elections will be held to fill the seats left vacant by the deaths of Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.). Virginia’s special election is September 9th, and Arizona’s is September 23rd.

Jerrold Nadler, 78, a New York Democrat who has been one of Congress’s leading liberal voices for three decades, will not seek re-election next year. The decision will mark the close of a 34-year congressional career that put Mr. Nadler at the center of major civil rights battles and three presidential impeachments. Mr. Nadler, who is both the longest-serving New Yorker and Jewish member of the House, had already been swept up in an intraparty reckoning over aging leaders. He was forced to give up his House Judiciary Committee leadership at the beginning of the term when it became clear a younger, more energetic colleague would beat him. Back home, he was facing a 26-year-old primary challenger.

Former Delaware governor and nine-term U.S. House member, Rep. Mike Castle, has died at 86. As governor, Castle led efforts on a comprehensive welfare reform package. While serving in the House from 1992 to 2011, he served on the Financial Services and Education and Workforce committees.